Hose minder

ABSTRACT

An elongated controlling arm is hingedly connected at one end to the inner end of a dipper stick of an earth-moving crane to serve as a controller for hydraulic or pneumatic hoses which extend between the dipper stick and a boom on which the dipper stick is slideably mounted. A roller is mounted on the free end of the arm for rollably engaging the hoses. The arm is spring biased away from the boom so as to keep the hoses under tension in all positions of the boom and dipper stick. In addition, the connection of the controller arm to the dipper stick includes a pair of springs which resiliently hold the arm in contact with a bracket mounted on the dipper stick and allow the arm to be rocked from side to side in the bracket without becoming damaged or without damaging outside objects such as glass windows or siding of buildings.

United States Patent [r91 [11] 3,776,403

Billings [451 Dec. 4, 1973 [54] HOSE MINDER 57] ABSTRACT Roy 0.Billings, 6621 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. 53213 Filed: June 7,1972 Appl. No.: 260,474

[76] Inventor:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/l969 Brubaker 214/135 R 3/1966Learmont 2l4/137 Primary ExaminerAlbert J. Makay Assistant ExaminerJohnMannix Attorney-Arthur L. Morsell, .lr.

An elongated controlling arm is hingedly connected at one end to theinner end of a dipper stick of an earthmoving crane to serve as acontroller for hydraulic or pneumatic hoses which extend between thedipper stick and a boom on which the dipper stick is slideably mounted.A roller is mounted on the free end of the arm for rollably engaging thehoses. The arm is spring biased away from the boom so as to keep thehoses under tension in all positions of the boom and dipper stick. Inaddition, the connection of the controller arm to the dipper stickincludes a pair of springs which resiliently hold the arm in contactwith a bracket mounted on the dipper stick and allow the arm to berocked from side to side in the bracket without becoming damaged orwithout damaging outside objects such as glass windows or siding ofbuildings.

11 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures so as 64 ea 44 72 4, 6 54 58 4. 82 22- 3024 46 an 4e o 52 so 0 Q 0 O k 0 1o 38 4O 0 i M- s Z 28 3e K TI% l F1 I[O O I PATENTED E 4 73 SHEEI 1 BF 4 PATENTED 41975 SHEET 30F 4 S Nw QQmal min?" i i m nm m HOSE MINDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates in general to hydraulically operated devices and moreparticularly to devices in which one or more hydraulic hoses areconnected between two members that are movable relative to each other.In the past, when hydraulic hoses have been connected between twomembers that are movable relative to each other, the portion of thehoses extending between the two members has been allowed to hang freelywith enough slack to accommodate the maximum separation between thesurfaces to which the hoses were attached. This arrangement has provenworkable in cases where the relative movement of the members was small,but where the relative movement of the members was large, chafing and/orkinking of the hoses has resulted and this has led to premature failureof the hoses. One example of such an application is the case ofearth-moving cranes which have hydraulic hoses extending between theirbooms and dipper sticks. Since the booms and dipper sticks have a widerange of movement relative to each other and a wide variety of relativepositions, a relatively large slack length must be provided between thetwo members, and this leaves room for a good deal of chafing and kinkingof the hoses during relative movement of the boom and dipper stick.Loose hanging hoses also create likelihood of the hoses being damagedbetween the trench and the boom when digging, and there is the danger ofloose hoses catching on truck bodies when such bodies are being loadedin close quarters.

As another example, there are hydraulic hoses connected between the bedsand carriages of certain types of milling machines such as those havinghydraulic feeds.

Accordingly, the principal object of this invention is to provide ahydraulic hose controller for preventing chafing and/or kinking of ahydraulic hose or hoses which extend between two members that aremovable with respect to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic hosecontroller of the above-noted character which is resiliently mounted soas to be yieldable in response to lateral forces applied thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic hosecontroller of the above-noted character which maintains a continuousforce on said hydraulic hose or hoses in a direction to take up slack inthe hose and prevent kinking or tangling.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a hydraulic hosecontroller of the above-noted character which is particularly suitablefor use in conjunction with a crane having a boom and a dipper stickwith hydraulic hoses connected between the two relatively movablemembers.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hydraulic hosecontroller of the above-noted character which is simple in structure,reliable in operation, and relatively inexpensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, theabove-noted objects are attained by hingedly connecting an elongatedcontroller arm to one of two movable members between which a hydraulichose or hoses extend. The free end of the controller arm is adapted toslideably engage the hose or hoses, and the arm is spring biased awayfrom the other movable member so as to continuously take up slack in thehose or hoses in all positions of the movable members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view of anearth-moving crane incorporating one illustrative hydraulic hosecontroller of this invention, parts of the structure being broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the hydraulic hose controllerdisclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational cross-sectional view of the hydraulichose controller shown in FIGS. 1 and FIG. 41 is an enlarged frontcross-sectional view of the hydraulic hose controller shown in FIGS. 1,2, and 3;

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are reduced detail views showing different relativepositions between the boom, dipper stick, and hydraulic hose controllerof the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 4; and

FIG. 9 is a reduced detail front view showing the hydraulic hosecontroller being knocked to the side by application of a lateral forcethereto from an outside object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral10 denotes the tractor portion of an earth-moving crane, the tractorportion 10 including a turntable 12 upon which a boom 14 is pivotallymounted at 16. The boom 14 can be pivoted upwardly and downwardly aboutits pivotal connection by means of a hydraulic ram 18. A dipper stick 20is slideably mounted in a saddle 22 which is pivotally connected to theboom 14 at an end bracket 24. An attachment head 26 is mounted on theend of the dipper stick 20 and a clamshell bucket 28 is attachedthereto, there being a male pressure plate 30, a swivel shaft 32, and ahydraulic actuator 34. The attachment 26 has a female pressure plate onits bottom surface which interacts with the male pressure plate, as moreclearly disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,229, dated Aug. 4,1964. The swivel shaft 32 is adapted to support the clamshell bucket 28or a variety of other implements such as twin hooks, trencherattachment, slope mowers, and the like. The hydraulic actuator 34interacts with the swivel shaft 32 for rotatably adjusting theimplements as is disclosed in detail in my prior U.S. Pat. No.3,633,773, dated Jan. 11, 1972.

The hydraulic actuator 34 is the most remote unit in the hydraulicsystem, said system including a control unit 36 mounted upon theturntable 12 of the crane. The control unit 36 includes a source ofhydraulic fluid under pressure, a double acting hydraulic control valve,and manual controls 38 for the control valves as is well known in theart. The control unit 36 and other parts of the hydraulicsystem of theturntable are connected by means of hydraulic conduits 40 to a junctionblock 42 near the end of the boom 14. Although the hydraulic conduits 40are shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the conduits 40 are mounted along the boom 14 inaccordance with well-known prior art practices.

The junction block 42 is coupled by means of hydraulic hoses 44 to ajunction block 46 (see FIG. 3) which is mounted on the inner end of thedipper stick 20. From junction block 46, the hydraulic fluid isconducted through hydraulic conduits 48 (see FIG. 2 to the attachment 26on the outer end of the dipper stick 20. The hydraulic fluid is thenconducted by means of hydraulic conduits 50 and 52 to the hydraulicactuator 34 or other hydraulically operated device. The hydraulic fluidwhich is applied through the hoses 50 and 52 to the hydraulic actuator34 serves to rotatably adjust the clamshell bucket 28 and to open andclose it as disclosed in detail in my above-noted US. Pat. No.3,633,773.

The portion of the above-described hydraulic system that is of concernin connection with this invention is the portion which lies between thejunction block 42 on boom 14 and the junction block 46 on dipper stick20. The hydraulic connection between these two junction blocks iseffected by means of four hydraulic hoses 44. Hydraulic hoses 44 arerelatively long to accommodate the extreme separation that can occurbetween the junction blocks 42 and 46 as the crane is used for normaldigging operations. FIGS. through 8 show the different positions thatcan be assumed by the boom 14 and the dipper stick 20, which variety ofpositions require the relatively long hoses 44. It can be seen in FIGS.5 through 8 that without some hose controlling means interacting betweenthe dipper stick 20, boom 14, and hydraulic hoses 44, the hoses 44 couldbecome seriously damaged in a short time under normal operation of thecrane. In accordance with this invention, however, such damage isprevented by means of the improved hydraulic hose controller.

The hydraulic hose controller of this invention includes an elongatedretainer arm 54 which is hingedly connected at 56 to a bracket 58 whichis mounted on one end of the dipper stick 20. The other end of thecontroller arm 54 has an angled end 60 in the form of a guiding loop inwhich rollers 62 are mounted for rollably engaging and guiding thehydraulic hoses 44. As best shown in FIG. 2, two rollers 62 are providedto accommodate four hydraulic hoses 44 in this particular embodiment ofthe invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the controller arm 54 is normallybiased away from the boom 14 by suitable means such as an encasedexpansion spring 64 which is attached at one end to a fin 66 thatprojects from the upper portion 60 of controller arm 54, the spring 64being attached at its other end to a fin 68 or rearward projection whichextends from the bracket 58. The fins 66 and 68 extend rearwardly farenough from their respective members 54 and 58 to provide adequateclearance for the hoses 44 as they are guided around the rollers 62 anddownward into the junction block 46. The expansion spring 64 is longenough to provide a positive spring tension over the full range ofvariation of position between the dipper stick and the boom 14 asillustrated in FIGS. 5 through 8. FIGS. 5 and 7 show the positions wherethe spring 64 is in itsshortest condition, and the FIGS. 6 and 8 showthe positions where the spring 64 is in its most elongated condition.The spring assembly may be suitably adjusted to always urge the arm 54to upright position.

Since the arm 54 extends a substantial distance from the end of thedipper stick 20 in some positions thereof, it is preferable to have thehinged connection between the arm 54 and dipper stick 20 resilientlyyieldable in response to lateral forces so that if the arm 54accidentally brushes against a structural unit it will not be damagedthereby. Such a resiliently yieldable mounting is provided at the end 56of the arm 54.

Referring to FIG. 2, a rod 70 extends between the opposing side walls 72and 74 of the bracket 58, said side walls having a forward projection73. The lower end of the arm 54 is slotted as at 76 to slideably engagethe rod 70. The arm 54 is normally held in contact with the rod 70 bymeans of two angularly disposed springs 80 and 82 which connect betweenopenings in the ends of the rod 70 at 84 and 86 and in the arm 54 at 88and 90. The distance between the side edges 72 and 74 of the bracket 58is somewhat greater than the width of the arm 54 so that the arm 54 canbe rocked laterally as illustrated in FIG. 9, in which the arm 54 hasbeen rocked to one side by contact with a structural unit 92. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the amount of lateral motionthat can be tolerated in this mounting is determined by the depth of theslot 76 and the clearance between the arm 54 and the sides 72 and 74 ofthe bracket 58. In the preferred embodiment the arm 54 is an openrectangular frame as illustrated.

Although this invention has been described in connection with specificembodiments thereof, it should be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed embodiments, since many modifications can bemade in the disclosed structure without changing its essentialprinciples of operation. Many such modifications will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, and this invention includes all suchmodifications as may fall within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A hydraulic hose controller in combination with a device having afirst member which is movably connected to a second member, said devicehaving a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure connected to saidfirst member, having a hydraulically operated device attached to saidsecond member, and having hydraulic conduit means connected between saidsource of hydraulic fluid and said hydraulically operated device, whichconduit means includes a flexible hydraulic hose portion connectedbetween said first and second members, said hydraulic hose controllercomprising a controller arm hingedly connected at one end to said secondmember for movement toward and away from the latter, guiding means onthe other end of said controller arm engaged by a portion of saidhydraulic hose intermediate its length, and biasing means between saidsecond member and said controller arm normally urging the arm away fromsaid second member to thereby continuously prevent slack in said hose.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which there is meansproviding for yielding lateral movement of the controller arm inresponse to side impact.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said guiding meansincludes roller means positioned to rollably engage the hose.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1 and further comprising amounting bracket attached to said second member and to which saidcontroller arm is hingedly connected.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4 wherein said mounting brackethas a rod extending between two laterally spaced portions thereof andwherein said controller arm is laterally slotted at said one end thereofto hingedly engage said rod while providing for relative lateralmovement between the rod and arm.

6. The combination as defined in claim 5 and further comprisingadditional spring means connected between said mounting bracket and saidcontroller am for resiliently urging the controller arm to a positionwhere the plot of the arm is fully engaged with said rod.

7. The combination as defined in claim 6 wherein the lower end of saidcontroller arm is slotted throughout the width of said arm, said slottedportion being hingedly engaged with said rod and being resiliently urgedin contact therewith by said additional spring means.

8. The combination as defined in claim 7 wherein said additional springmeans comprises two springs each extending from one end of said rod to acorresponding side of said controller arm.

9. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which the first member isthe boom of a crane, and in which the second member is a dipper stickwhich is slideably and pivotally. connected thereto, and in which thehinged connection between the controller arm and dipper stick providesfor pivotal movement of the arm toward the outer end of the dipper stickand toward a position of parallelism therewith.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 4 in which the mounting brackethas longitudinally spaced forward and rearward hinge projections, and inwhich the controller arm is hinged to said forward projections, and inwhich there is spring means connected between said rear projection and aprojection from an upper portion of the arm, and in which a portion ofthe hose is guided between said arm and spring means toward saidbracket.

11. The combination as defined in claim 5 in which the first member isthe boom of a crane, and in which the second member is a dipper stickwhich is slideably and pivotally connected thereto, and in which thehinged connection between the controller arm and dipper stick providesfor pivotal movement of the arm toward the outer end of the dipper stickand toward a position of parallelism therwith.

1. A hydraulic hose controller in combination with a device having afirst member which is movably connected to a second member, said devicehaving a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure connected to saidfirst member, having a hydraulically operated device attached to saidsecond member, and having hydraulic conduit means connected between saidsource of hydraulic fluid and said hydraulically operated device, whichconduit means includes a flexible hydraulic hose portion connectedbetween said first and second members, said hydraulic hose controllercomprising a controller arm hingedly connected at one end to said secondmember for movement toward and away from the latter, guiding means onthe other end of said controller arm engaged by a portion of saidhydraulic hose intermediate its length, and biasing means between saidsecond member and said controller arm normally urging the arm away fromsaid second member to thereby continuously prevent slack in said hose.2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which there is meansproviding for yielding lateral movement of the controller arm inresponse to side impact.
 3. The combination as defined in claim 1wherein said guiding means includes roller means positioned to rollablyengage the hose.
 4. The combination as defined in claim 1 and furthercomprising a mounting bracket attached to said second member and towhich said controller arm is hingedly connected.
 5. The combination asdefined in claim 4 wherein said mounting bracket has a rod extendingbetween two laterally spaced portions thereof and wherein saidcontroller arm is laterally slotted at said one end thereof to hingedlyengage said rod while providing for relative lateral movement betweenthe rod and arm.
 6. The combination as defined in claim 5 and furthercomprising additional spring means connected between said mountingbracket and said controller arm for resiliently urging the controllerarm to a position where the plot of the arm is fully engaged with saidrod.
 7. The combination as defined in claim 6 wherein the lower end ofsaid controller arm is slotted throughout the width of said arm, saidslotted portion being hingedly engaged with said rod and beingresiliently urged in contact therewith by said additional spring means.8. The combination as defined in claim 7 wherein said additional springmeans comprises two springs each extending from one end of said rod to acorresponding side of said controller arm.
 9. The combination as definedin claim 1 in which the first member is the boom of a crane, and inwhich the second member is a dipper stick which is slideably andpivotally connected thereto, and in which the hinged connection betweenthe controller arm and dipper stick provides for pivotal movement of thearm toward the outer end of the dipper stick and toward a position ofparallelism therewith.
 10. The combination as claimed in claim 4 inwhich the mounting bracket has longitudinally spaced forward andrearward hinge projections, and in which the controller arm is hinged tosaid forward projections, and in which there is spring meAns connectedbetween said rear projection and a projection from an upper portion ofthe arm, and in which a portion of the hose is guided between said armand spring means toward said bracket.
 11. The combination as defined inclaim 5 in which the first member is the boom of a crane, and in whichthe second member is a dipper stick which is slideably and pivotallyconnected thereto, and in which the hinged connection between thecontroller arm and dipper stick provides for pivotal movement of the armtoward the outer end of the dipper stick and toward a position ofparallelism therwith.